Daughter asks for help finding missing woman

December 8, 2006

KSHB-TV Action News

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Baffled and frustrated, a desperate daughter asks the metro for help. Today is the second anniversary of the disappearance of Summer Shipp.

Shipp's daughter, Brandy, is searching for answers as police search for a suspect. The story attracted national headlines in 2004. Now, Brandy Shipp is passing out flyers, inviting women to a free self-defense workshop this weekend, but it is also an invitation to bring her peace of mind.

"I'd like to find out what happened to my mother an that fateful day two years ago," Brandy Shipp said.

Summer Shipp, 54, vanished on Dec. 8, 2004, while knocking on doors in Independence. Police found her car days later with few clues. Almost two years of searching, raising money, and begging the public for tips, family and friends remain desperate.

"Someone out there knows something," Brandy Shipp said. "And if you know something I want you to come forward and I'm not going to stop searching for answers. I'm never going to give up."

She says he has never lost hope.

"I miss my mother. I want to pick up the phone and call her. I want to see her and I'm not able to do so. That'll be part of the rest of my life. I'll be living with that forever whether we find her or not."

Police found a person of interest, a man they say is the last person to see Summer Shipp alive, but detectives say Jeffery Sauerbry is uncooperative.

"We find it very unusual that he won't talk to police about that," Brandy Shipp said.

Sauerbry is currently in prison on unrelated charges, but is scheduled for release next week – a fact that leaves Brandy Shipp very uncomfortable.

"I want justice to prevail and whoever's responsible is going to pay," she said. "And they will. It's just a matter of time. Something will unfold, I'm confident."

The free self-defense seminar for women is at the Screenland Theatre on Saturday and will last all weekend.

And police still urge anyone with information that can help find Summer Shipp to call the TIPS Hotline at (816) 474-TIPS.